BC: "We will be in a unique position with $12 million in cap space before the draft"

“We will be in a unique position with $12 million in cap space before the draft and before July 1 to entertain deals where significant contracts could come into play. You could move a player out with some value and take back a player with significant value even higher than that $12 million. If you package the pick along with a young player, what does that net you? All of those questions will be answered over the course of the next several weeks and months as Ed Stefanski and I entertain those phone calls from the various GMs and us placing phone calls to various GMs. We will have a lot of lines in the water.”

I have been thinking about this statement for a couple of days now and the types of players who could be a possible target under such thinking.

Lets make an assumption that young players BC speaks of on Raptors roster are 25 or under. That gives us a list of (2012-13 salaries in brackets): Amir Johnson ($6M), DeMar DeRozan ($3.3M), Ed Davis ($2.2M), and James Johnson ($2.8M).

Based on these comments, I am interpreting BC to suggest a big contract ($12M or more) coming back to Toronto is a possibility. With the $12M in cap space BC mentions, that gives the Raptors the opportunity to take on a contract up to $14.2M-$18M in any trading involving 1 young player and the draft pick (or just 1 player as the pick has no monetary value in a trade).

Looking around the league at players with contracts of $12M up to $18M who realistically could be had (i.e. LeBron James is not included nor is Kevin Durant) and the Raptors might actually want (in my opinion, add yours below), we get:

Atlanta: Josh Smith
Chicago: Luol Deng
Detroit: Ben Gordon (a pick would have to be coming with it, imo)
Houston: Kevin Martin
Indiana: Danny Granger
Memphis: Rudy Gay
New Orleans: Emeka Okafor (a pick would have to be coming with it, imo)
Philadelpia: Andre Igoudala, Elton Brand (a pick(s) and/or young player would have to come with Elton Brand, imo)
San Antonio: Tony Parker, Manu Ginobilli
Utah: Al Jefferson
Washington: Nene, Rashard Lewis ('only' $13M guaranteed next year and of course a pick would have to be coming back, imo)

The above shows what big contract players are out there. By no means does the inclusion above mean I think the Raptors can or should get that player - just showing the contracts out there that fits the assumption of BC's comments.

Also, multiple players coming back (saw 2 guys making $6-7M) in a trade and multi-team deals are not considered because that would be pretty much impossible to narrow down.

So any of the listed players seems worth a young player and possibly a pick?

Josh Smith is the answer to many of our problems. I worry about his locker room presence.
Luol Deng isn't going anywhere but I would take him in a heart beat
Ben Gordon frustrates me...I loved him in Chicago, why isn't he killing it in Detroit? I'd give him a chance though.
Kevin Martin: Yes please and slide DD to the 3
Danny Granger Yes please and keep DD at the 2. Likely not going anywhere though. Seems to be a huge part of what Indiana is doing
Rudy Gay...I'd do it, likely not going anywhere though Randolph would be out before him.
Okafor would be a fantastic stop gap for Valanciunas to learn behind or in front of I like this one
Iggy yes Brand no unless Turner came with him and then we slid DD to the 3
Parker and Ginobili nope unless Leonard came too...which wouldn't happen
Al Jefferson...No
Nene yes Lewis no...I'd take their pick but their young guys aren't going anywhere

I would be ecstatic if we were able to have josh smith as a 3, bargs 4 and val at 5. Along with kleiza as a back up small forward amir as backup power forward (guessing ed davis would be in the deal somehow) and aaron gray as the backup center.

Whoever told you skies the limit is looking dumb because I'm 22 and i'm moonwalking on the sun.

Some really good players there to solve our SF problem, a lot of avenues for BC to explore, a first round pick, a couple of second round picks, possible future draft picks, young tradable assets, and the $12 million in cap space, definitely a lot of flexibility, will be very interesting, and he sounds very confident.

Also, not on the list, but I wonder if BC can make a play for Rondo, he's being paid something like $55 million over 5 years, and I'm sure the Celtics are entertaining offers, just a thought, albeit probably an unrealistic one.

My hunch has been that BC will target Iggy or Granger and as much as I'd prefer the patient route, if BC is hell bent on adding a contract then I could live with either of them. Each would only have two years at most left on their deals and would bring exactly what the team needs at the 3 while meshing well with the existing talent.

The only question is the price. Can't see either Philly or Indiana giving them away for less than Ed Davis, the 8th pick and possibly James Johnson/Kleiza/2nd round pick. Not sure how I feel about that.

I would have to go through a thorough list of NBA salaries to know who is reasonable to go after. But from your list the only one I'd be interested in is Rudy Gay. I highly doubt he is gettable.
I would consider going after Ilyasova, but that wouldn't require a trade. Signing Ersan would also allow us to maintain some level of financial flexibility, which can never be a bad thing for this rebuilding process.

brand, martin or gay for me in that list. i doubt new orleans or detroit would give up a pick with those players but if they would okafor and gordon would also be good vet bench players if a bit pricey.

don't really want josh smith, good player and always plays hard but a bit of a whiner and lets it get out to the public when he is unhappy.

i agree granger won't get traded. and indi is also a team with cap space so no need to get rid of a contract.

philly would probably get rid of a pick which should be in our pg of the future range if marshall doesn't go early for brand and he would be a great mentor for davis and i expect we would be sending amir out in that trade. brand and ed could fight for minutes and it gives ed a much stronger player to practice against. with the bonus of brand being a max contract coming off the books next year for a nice deadline deal.

Josh Smith is the answer to many of our problems. I worry about his locker room presence.
Rudy Gay...I'd do it, likely not going anywhere though Randolph would be out before him.
Parker

We need superstars or slightly below superstar status players. Only the three above players from the list qualify, in my humble opinion. We are in a dangerous position where, instead of moving ahead, we could be saddling the franchise with a bad contract that would set them back for years!!! This franchise player will be the centrepiece of the Raptors and define their success for years. Not to take away from how critical this draft is but this trade is even more critical to making the Raptors a champion - if it's an albatross around the franchises neck, it's back to rebuilding and a new job for BC!!!

I think that Danny Granger would be the most likely. Roy Hibbert is a restricted free-agent this off season. He is more important than Granger. They will probably need to clear money for him. After an All-Star season I except a huge pay day. They would already have a replacement in George. If the rumors of Gordon wanting to go back home are true, than that makes it even more likely. Imagine they lose this series to ORL too? Danny would out there so fast! Make the call BC.